You may be wondering why everyone is doing AK12 content lately. Not sure where the rifles are coming from but we found one on our trip to *Austria Arms* and decided to do a video on the spot without planning. Interesting enough, *Brandon Herrera* and Henry from *9-hole reviews* filmed their AK12 videos almost on the same day. But what is mind blowing about this is that we all independently came to the same conclusion
1) military trigger and civilian trigger are very different. Because of burst fire military trigger feels different but in civilian tr3 is standard saiga trigger. 2) front handguard mostly is not about lasers is more about grenade launchers. 3) stock is really sh1tty but right now in second generation it will be changed to the stock ak evo. 4) the main difference you didn't mention: the barrel in civilian version is thicker which gives better accuracy. In fact most of the tr3 are under 2 moa. And about civilian upgrades they will not pass military tests. In fact zenitco didn't pass military tests during 6ч63 project. But who cares... everyone tries to hype
@@codemy666 No. I'm saying that the meme template should be more akin to something you don't have but it's cheap knockoff. like "mom can we have an AK?" "We have an ak at home" the ak at home: PSA garbage.
@@burnyburnoutze2nd because that's a very important thing to have on your main assault rifle and not worthless stuff like optics or laser aiming devices...
After watching this and Brandon's video on the AK-12 I would still love one for the collection but I know now that I will probably have to mod and tweak it to suit me more than I originally thought.
The prototype actually had a lot of interesting features and was a big improvement for the AK platform but because of the Russian military requirements and extensive budget cuts they changed it to a modernized AK74 :/
@@PolenarTactical Not only that, but they did the Kovrov designers a disservice by pausing the whole audition process so that IzhMash could build it up to the reliability standarts, while Kovrov had an already working gun. It was later adopted as A-545 or 6P24 Kord IIrc, but in very low numbers. Such a shame. It had the AEK-971/AK-107 balance roller thing, it was ambidextrous, 2 round burst - very promising. I was able to shoot it on the military Expo thingy last year and it felt great.
you can disable the stock safety. I did it with a dremel - I disassembled the folding stock mechanism, set a sanding drum on the dremel in a dremel press, then pushed the stock safety into the sanding wheel as it was spinning inside the round hole on the left side of the receiver. once it's sufficiently ground-down you can just beat it out with a dowel and hammer.
Ak12 is like they were finally designing the perfect modern AK and was on a good path to get it done but got interrupted halfway because they had to go draw up battleplans to annex crimea and ak74 was good enough for them.
@@PolenarTactical if remembered right there was some issues with oligarch who owned Izhevsk factory, he didn't provide a result needed , the factory was taken from him not along ago. Look like this AK is a result of speed up process after the Russian state take over.
Entirely plausible. Also, if 25% of your army is made up of conscripts with minimal training and low morale, a stock ak74 as a general purpose rifle would probably be perfectly adequate. Most casualties in war are the result of indirect fire anyway and the quality of a firearm is only really going to make a difference if both sides are only fighting with firearms so I can understand the decision process to roll back the updates to the ak12.
@@PolenarTactical Nope, Zlobin's AK-12, trip and fell while running on trials. Result broken handguards, left hand thumb traumas, sight shift from thermal gap, burnout nerves and tiredness. ) Military reaction "Just how you did this?" in disbelieve. )
@@TemnyiBuyan that's the official reason, real reason was Russian military wasn't prepared to pay that much money for a rifle that had little to no compatibility with 74 parts
The most frustrating rumor I heard are the new magazines. Some guy said that the base plate are weak and are prone to breaking when dropped. They found a huge pile of discarded AK 12 mags all with base plate broken and the spring out.
@@goldiestfish Yeah, the weak base plates are unfortunately, a sign of corruption. Attempting to save money on seemingly unimportant parts, in this case, the magazine base plate, a part that rarely anyone pay attentions to.
The base plates were not broken. Those are disguised bottles openers for opening beer bottles after a hard day of losing to Ukrainian militias popping your tanks with NLAWs.
would be interesting to see how well an optic could hold zero after removing the dust cover. Would be pretty bad if u had to zero it everytime you cleaned it.
It seems like you could just mount your optic on the forward section of rail and put the magnifier on the dust cover. I have both on the dust cover rail and I would like if it were a lot further forward
4:49 The feature that you only can fold the stock, while the weapon is on save is the result of a Russian gun-law prohibiting civilians from owning flooding stock weapons. A weapon that can not be fired if the weapon is on save is not a folding stock weapon according to this law. A Russian friend told me, I could not find a source this fast.
It's even weirder. Russian law prohibits SBRs, but only specifies overall length, instead of the barrel length. So when you fold your stock, the rifle technically becomes illegal.
That's exactly what went trough my mind when inspecting a friend's TR3. I told him for the same price I can get an ak105, a Sureshot Armament Group chassis, an aimpoint and other goodies that will make a much better rifle for the same monney.
@@PolenarTactical I still find it funny that Russian MOD put all that money into RnDing a modernized rifle, only to settle for an overpriced AK-100 variant Yea the AEK-97x and the AN-94 is a thing but all it's doing is being part of the MVD or whatever special force Russia still has today I really wanna see that Dragunov AM they brought back though perhaps with recent events, that might happen sooner
The truth is that the resurrected AK12 project was essentially a make work project for Kalashnikov Concern, and a propaganda tool for the Russian Army to make itself look more modern.
@@MaxwellAerialPhotography And that's stupid because a rifle is modern as long as it has 20 rds or more and an intermediate cartridge. For the purpose of infantry the difference between a stg44 and a super modern 2022 rifle with all the bells and whistles is far less than good comms (and intel), manpads, nightvision, grenades, etc.
@@Kaze919 I am afraid you are mistaken. For the past 35 years, privatization has been the trend in all sectors of Russain economy. Whole industries keep failing if they are not export-oriented and are not very good at generating income for their owners.
When they tried to modernize their AK-74 they realized that modernizing it meant cost so they went back to AK-74 and made it "better". Reminds me of people that cannot afford a new car so they put a plastic spoiler on top.
True as it is. In Russia politics and economists always try think for engineers and young creative people. Power in Russia is when local high serviceman think that world roll around him.
Zenitco upgrade kits for AK-74M rifles would have been a more effective and economical solution for RU military and would have made it to more soldiers, maybe along with some actual optics for those rails. If the original AK-12 design had been adopted (or an AEK-971 or similar rifle had been designated AK-12), it might have been worth it.
Zenitco is way too expensive to be “economical” on a large scale HahaHahaHaha 🤣. It still needs fitting on Saiga’s 🤷🏻♂️. RS regulate is much higher quality. I own both.
The first version of the AK-12 failed to pass the tests. We don't know exactly what went wrong. It is also known that the AN-94 participated in the first stage of the test. He turned out to be the best among all, but did not participate in the next stages of the test.
@teebles It's very complex, but I've always heard that the AN-94 was a very accurate rifle, at least more accurate than the typical AK-74/M. Never heard anything about the burst accuracy.
Russian here, I'm still salty about the AK-12 program after all these years. The initial prototype promised so much, I was pretty excited: Mag release and ambi controls you could actually operate with one finger, reversible bolt/ejection, proprietary adjustable (wow amazing 60's tech) stock, bolt hold open (even more amazing), and just a cool, new look. Instead you get the same fucking 74's we'd been using for 40+ years with some tiny tweaks and cheap furniture. And it doesn't even look nearly as nice. The military absolutely could have afforded those improvements if half the budget for anything in this godforsaken country didn't get lost in some people's pockets on it's way down. When I did my service, the AK's we had were older than all of us, and it will stay that way for another 30 years I'm afraid.
@@sigmadarkrain That's fair, actually, I shouldn't generalize. Different places have wildly different equipment. In 10-11 there was still rumors that apparently some units have unopened crates of Nagant revolvers and SKS'es laying around, though I'm pretty sure it was just a joke. But closer to big cities I hear it's much better (although apparently hazing is worse also?)
Hey there. The reason why you can not fold the stock if the safety is disengaged is because the TR3 is made with the canons of Russian civilian firearms. In Russia, private ownership of handguns is banned (except for "traumatic pistols"), and all long guns must be at least 80 cm long. Any firearm that has a folding, collapsible or removable stock that makes it shorter than 80 cm must be equipped with a disconnector that prevents the gun from being fired when the stock is folded, fully collapsed, or removed. It's essentially what the European Commission wanted to do in 2015, remember?
But I thought our manufacturing do for Europe another way, now i see thay stop trying, in Russia people proud if can find gun or car was made for export to Europe
@@pcarrierorange They use electric currents as primers to fire rubber pellets. They're called "traumatic" pistols because they're designed to cause physical trauma as a less-than-lethal weapon.
I don't know what the European Commision got to do with guns.. Gun laws are pure a matter of the memberstates only. If you to stupid to read what the EU is all about please shut the fuck up.
@@PolenarTactical i like you but that's just a bad joke, the USSR was destroyed by traitors and nationalism and modern Russia has little in common with it, certainly not socialism.
New production AK-12's use a different stock that is more similar to the old prototype AK-12. It needs a lengthened aluminium hand guard machined from billet. Yes the gas tube is fixed and you have to remove the plug on the front to get into it for cleaning.
Honestly this seems like an excellent host for modification if people made parts for it the handguard could easily be fitted with a very rigid MLOK handguard that is also free floated.
Ziga you gotta get 1 and run it at the next Finnish Brutality event, I know myself and others would love to see how well you and the rifle performs in it🤙
In Russia AK12 if you watch official military Channels (such as “Звезда” (The Star)) is advertised as highly modernized weapon and as one of the best rifles on Earth nowadays. But the interesting fact is that when you watch unofficial military Russian channels they also come to almost the same conclusions as you did. So thank you for your test and opinion, it helps to widen the range of thoughts on this rifle.
When I got my Saiga MK102 over here in South Africa, I took a Dremel and removed the magazine capacity limiting coat hanger. I also took a plier and broke out the folding stock blocker. Now I can fold and shoot, not that I ever do. It's something to do with certain countries having bans on features, so they make the guns compatible for all markets with the nerfs. My gun is chambered in 5.56, but it is stamped .223 and the mags as well, for countries that don't allow military ammo.
I think everyone hates on the AK12 because we've all been spoiled by zenit, and modern AR modifications, with mlok etc. The AK12 is basically the same level as a bone stock M4A1 with a KAC quad rail.
@@PolenarTactical I do agree the prototypes were cool, but from what I've seen they had many issues. High production costs, very little interchangeability with older parts, weak points etc. I think the AK12 we have now is better in the end, and when it gets renovated I'm sure there will be upgrades to the complaints.
@@SirRobin048 They are cheaper in Russia. The reason they cost alot here is due to bans and shit. Honestly the fixed gas tube looks like a downgrade, the pistol grip and handguard look cheap and you cant swap the muzzle break. The only improvement is the dust cover and iron sights. They could have went for an AR15 buffer tube, Zenico rails and leave everything else untouched. The improved safety is also old news like Polenar said. Brandon also showed that the new safety actually sucks and goes all the way down the receiver instead of stopping at Semi Auto. Or they could have went for the actual AK12, that didnt look like it was made with cheap garbage...
While the prototype AK-12 or sometime called AK-11 is a really interesting design, it was not without it own problem The AK-12 was a radical decision to completely replace the AK-107 in ratnik trial by Izhevsk and it was rushed which lead to it inevitable failure again the KORD A-545 but instead of fixing it, Zlobin who is the creator decide to do some really wacky stuff, like making bolt and bolt carrier cut out and adding
hell, i saw a dude made a non reciprocating ak like nothing, for sure there are cheap ways to do what the og ak 12 wanted, and still better than actual ones, its all madness
Russians make AK-47 Too expensive, modernize it. Russians make AKM Cheap enough to make. 1974, 7.62x39 is outdated and heavy. Russians make 5.45x39 and AK-74 PERFECTION. 2012, AK-74 is outdated. AK-12 made, too expensive. Dozens of revisions later, cheaper and poorly furnished rifle made. AK-74 was perfect. Stop perfecting the wheel
It reminds me of when the Czech army didn't yet adopt the BREN 805 (which still wasn't great, but the BREN 2 now is), the soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan would get new handguards with Picatiny, an AR buffer tube adapter and some spray paint for their Vz. 58, to make them at least close to other coalition equipment. The diference is, that the Czech army only saw this as a temporary fix before a new rifle could be put into service, while the russians just put rails, a two round burst and a new stock on an AK-74M and made it a long-term solution.
AKV concept looks like a step back to the original architecture of the first AK prototypes, that ware heavly influenced by Sturmgewehrs. Architecture, that from the begining, allowed solid optics mount in conjunction with the barrel...
Yes but the Russian military wont buy them... Also if you look at Russian combat footage from syria or ukraine you can see that most soldiers prefer to use a modified AK-74M.
@@glebb..3416 For me it's no wonder, soldiers are more familiarized with more battle proven AK-74M, and probably Russian Army got loads of them, compared to AK-12. IF someday AKV will be produced, it's more likely gonna be a sporting and maybe special forces rifle. Quite like counterbalanced Saiga SR1.
@@adamcichon6957 The SR-1 might get adopted for Russian snipers, its a great rifle. The AKV sadly will not be adopted. The problem is the Russian state that got its hand in the Kalashnikov konzern and the military. Instead of letting the profesionals do their job the Russian state takes part in the command. This applies both to Weapons and military tactics as seen in the Ukraine war, whenever the politicians take command it ends badly. Russia has many great concepts for weapons, tactics, military and so on. But the Russian state hinders everything, a good example for that would be the Russian BPLA drone (Orion drone) where the Russian state thought "we dont need them, just make a few" They only get mass produced now after the politicians finally saw how effective they are. There are rumors that the AK-12 has reliability problems due to the state cutting the costs. So judging by the combat footages most soldiers preffer an AK-74M with zenitco attachmends, not suprising its a great and proven rifle with a company that makes quality attachments.
Even sadder is that before the war everyone said it was good, and now everyone is dissing it. So what changed? The gun is the same as it was, so the only thing that changed was people´s minds. And if you can change your opinion on anything just because something happened in the world, then those "reviewers" weren´t reliable at all. They are meant to review a gun, not the country that made them. Time to unsubscribe, i guess...
@@Biden_is_demented because the prototype rifle that people initially saw were infinitely better designed than the rifle people are actually picking up. The actual rifle seems to have several important features cut from the initial prototype and kept several unimportant features that no one needs. The manufacturer also seems to have made several substandard choices to make the rifle more economical to produce.
@@Biden_is_demented because before the war everyone believed the Russian propaganda that the aks were the best and they were rivals to the ARs and H&Ks. But after the war people noticed that soldiers using these weapons reported they were Quote "shit" and "bad" .
This was hilarious. "Can I get one without bloodstains?" More seriously, I am puzzled why every couple of shots, it looks like no flash from a fired round.
@@RobinRobertsesq it's the framerate, it always happens when shooting a video in 24/30 fps. The other day I filmed a braked 7" AR with my phone at 30 fps, and while the fireball looked huge irl, it ended up looking like that AK12 footage on screen. At 60 fps the muzzle flash looks much more consistent.
I'm sure the ultimate goal of this weapon, is to make the AN 94 look good and entice its own soldiers to produce it en masse and make it the standard infantry rifle
If they can make that AK with the separate upper and lower catch on, that might be the answer we have all been looking for, assuming that don't build in some fatal flaw that ruins the whole thing, either by accident or by design.
That opening 😂👍🏻. Recently they upgraded the AK12 : new stock (like on akv521), new sights (diopter), pistol grip (grip and trigger guard integrated), fixed some little issues end so on...Indeed AKV521 seems to be much better then AK12 ( it made for civil market)
Rifle dynamics are expensive AKs but I highly recommend their products. I'm not someone who has the credentials to give a professional opinion but their weapon plat form is reliable and recommended by people with real world experience. Look their brand up before purchasing a new AK. They're based out of America.
I think with that setup you could almost mount your optic on the forward section of rail and have your magnifier on the dust cover rail which means you wouldn't have to worry about zero shift
I love the opening with "uncle" Henry Chan. He remind me so much of the Chinese guys that I used to work with. He just needs a cigarette to complete the look.
My favorite AK. Rainbow 6 Siege introduced me to this rifle and I really want one. It's got everything I want. A close second was the Zastava or maybe a Vepr but this one is probably lighter
Nope, different gun. This is the AK-400 incarnation of the 'AK-12' that has nothing in common with the original design (which is what was used for R6:Siege).
In my opinion if they're gonna scrap the 521 they should at least - Make the buttstock compatible to M4s - Issue non-corrosive ammo so the permanent gas tube isn't an issue.. I don't know why they're still using corrosive ammo - Have a decent safety catch - Get rid of the shitty burst mode Boom. Rifle is a hundred times better. I would say make the handguards out of aluminum but I'm not sure how much that would cost
@@PolenarTactical The corrosive ammo always makes us laugh in the West. The Russians have a lot of issues developing modern propellants. As I recall Dynamit Noble developed non-corrosive primers in the 1930's but it took the United States until the late 1950's or 1960's to start using them in military ammunition, which I put down to the now closed government owned and run ammunition plants not wanting to change things. .
"significantly more expensive" was the biggest problem for the army, they wanted it cheaper and more compatible with 74 parts... and they got what they asked for
It was AK400 prototype and when they stop testing real AK-12 prototype because it has so many problems, they just use AK400 model and name it AK-12 for some reason...also this is first verson of AK-12, they made new one with lots of improvements...adn yes AKV-521 is much batter modernization of AK version..its to bad it was to late developed...
It would be like if the government decided to upgrade the old M4 and just melted on a few pieces of pic rail to add a grip and light and then broke the safety and called it a day lol.
The no folding when on fire is actually a Russian legal requirement. It makes no sense but that's what happens when pistols are illegal in your country.
You may be wondering why everyone is doing AK12 content lately. Not sure where the rifles are coming from but we found one on our trip to *Austria Arms* and decided to do a video on the spot without planning. Interesting enough, *Brandon Herrera* and Henry from *9-hole reviews* filmed their AK12 videos almost on the same day.
But what is mind blowing about this is that we all independently came to the same conclusion
The AKMeh
1) military trigger and civilian trigger are very different. Because of burst fire military trigger feels different but in civilian tr3 is standard saiga trigger.
2) front handguard mostly is not about lasers is more about grenade launchers.
3) stock is really sh1tty but right now in second generation it will be changed to the stock ak evo.
4) the main difference you didn't mention: the barrel in civilian version is thicker which gives better accuracy. In fact most of the tr3 are under 2 moa.
And about civilian upgrades they will not pass military tests. In fact zenitco didn't pass military tests during 6ч63 project. But who cares... everyone tries to hype
They are coming into the US via parts kits, people in russia chop them up and sell them online through forums, and some madlads import them.
@@blakeslide6919 NOT JUST US ! we in the UK can get legally parts kits as well ! US is not only country with gun rights
@@geezerp1982 Yes...a straight pull bolt action version of this sounds ,SOOOOOO, useful 🙄
and fun.
“We have Zenitco at home”
Zenitco at home:
"Just as good"
More like FAB Defence!
But they do in fact have Zenitco at home lol
@@DaveOganesyan You think an average russian military man can afford zenitco? optimist
@@codemy666 No. I'm saying that the meme template should be more akin to something you don't have but it's cheap knockoff. like "mom can we have an AK?" "We have an ak at home" the ak at home: PSA garbage.
"No I'm not at the sea I'm in the woods" lmao. Fuck that intro was pure gold
Thanks!
It was a last minute decision and Henry came up with the main idea :)
LMAO glad someone else caught it to
It was like a classic inspector Clouseau line. 🤣
Apparently the VDV didn't get the memo...
Hahaha best intro ever!! I also like the single branch attached to the helmet lol.
The muzzle device has spikes… that makes it extra tactical
The muzzle brake spikes alone are worth $500 !
Reminds of the SureFire RC Mini Monster that never caught on
Ironically, Kalashnikov concern claims those spikes are there so it makes it easier to break glass with the muzzle lmao
@@burnyburnoutze2nd because that's a very important thing to have on your main assault rifle and not worthless stuff like optics or laser aiming devices...
@@PolenarTactical it can use optics though correct?
The opening scene is just comedy gold, you've bested yourselves)))
Thanks :D
It was primarily Henry's idea
@@PolenarTactical um no dude, Žiga please stop passing your shady dealings with my cousin as my idea. - Henry
@@9HoleReviews 🤣🤣🤣
@@PolenarTactical His Chinese accent is GOLD!!
Aha! So I see that you've got a sum bohdee who can speaka Vietnamiece?
The intro had me stitching up in tears. Love it.
Thanks :D
Henry took it next level. Hilarious.😂
God i love 9-Hole's imitation of a chinese salesman. Good for a laugh everytime, its so authentic!
Wait there's more chinese salesman skits out there??
@@IFarmBugs yes, we are continuing the tradition :D
th-cam.com/video/3twxj05mWuY/w-d-xo.html
Yeah.... "imitation".... 😬🤐
@@PolenarTactical God i love this!
Although his Chinese accent is not authentic , it's still a good laugh 😂
After watching this and Brandon's video on the AK-12 I would still love one for the collection but I know now that I will probably have to mod and tweak it to suit me more than I originally thought.
I’d put a link but my comments with link keep getting erased
Instead i just bought an AK102 and will mod it with better aftermarket alternatives
@@PolenarTactical sounds like an idea the Russians should have considered 😂
Why ak102 and not ak104. Or did you want 556 ak
@@keanur6112 because of 5.56, i have enough 7.62 AKs already :D
old prototype ak12 looks cool af this looks like off brand 50 dollar airsoft gun tbh
The prototype actually had a lot of interesting features and was a big improvement for the AK platform but because of the Russian military requirements and extensive budget cuts they changed it to a modernized AK74 :/
@@PolenarTactical and there are better solutions from the civilian market to modernize an AK74.
@@PolenarTactical it also suffered from several reliability problems
@@PolenarTactical Not only that, but they did the Kovrov designers a disservice by pausing the whole audition process so that IzhMash could build it up to the reliability standarts, while Kovrov had an already working gun. It was later adopted as A-545 or 6P24 Kord IIrc, but in very low numbers.
Such a shame. It had the AEK-971/AK-107 balance roller thing, it was ambidextrous, 2 round burst - very promising.
I was able to shoot it on the military Expo thingy last year and it felt great.
@@borkwoof696 what reliability problems are you referring too? really curious to know.
you can disable the stock safety. I did it with a dremel - I disassembled the folding stock mechanism, set a sanding drum on the dremel in a dremel press, then pushed the stock safety into the sanding wheel as it was spinning inside the round hole on the left side of the receiver. once it's sufficiently ground-down you can just beat it out with a dowel and hammer.
Russian FSB wants to know your location
@@r0b3rt_959 they can blow me - I don’t play by their rules.
Ak12 is like they were finally designing the perfect modern AK and was on a good path to get it done but got interrupted halfway because they had to go draw up battleplans to annex crimea and ak74 was good enough for them.
I think the military saw the price for the original prototypes and decided that AK74 was perfectly ok :D
@@PolenarTactical if remembered right there was some issues with oligarch who owned Izhevsk factory, he didn't provide a result needed , the factory was taken from him not along ago. Look like this AK is a result of speed up process after the Russian state take over.
Entirely plausible. Also, if 25% of your army is made up of conscripts with minimal training and low morale, a stock ak74 as a general purpose rifle would probably be perfectly adequate. Most casualties in war are the result of indirect fire anyway and the quality of a firearm is only really going to make a difference if both sides are only fighting with firearms so I can understand the decision process to roll back the updates to the ak12.
@@PolenarTactical Nope, Zlobin's AK-12, trip and fell while running on trials. Result broken handguards, left hand thumb traumas, sight shift from thermal gap, burnout nerves and tiredness. )
Military reaction "Just how you did this?" in disbelieve. )
@@TemnyiBuyan that's the official reason, real reason was Russian military wasn't prepared to pay that much money for a rifle that had little to no compatibility with 74 parts
Lower number is worse obviously, they should have made the AK-9001
makes sense, that's why the AK-200 is still the best until 521 comes to market
i think AK-9999999999 can turn Biden ball into history
The most frustrating rumor I heard are the new magazines. Some guy said that the base plate are weak and are prone to breaking when dropped. They found a huge pile of discarded AK 12 mags all with base plate broken and the spring out.
But you can use standard 74 mags as we did in this video
@@PolenarTactical but for new mags was money paid
@@goldiestfish
Yeah, the weak base plates are unfortunately, a sign of corruption.
Attempting to save money on seemingly unimportant parts, in this case, the magazine base plate, a part that rarely anyone pay attentions to.
xqc viewer me wondering why they had pepe the frog in the thumbnail
The base plates were not broken. Those are disguised bottles openers for opening beer bottles after a hard day of losing to Ukrainian militias popping your tanks with NLAWs.
would be interesting to see how well an optic could hold zero after removing the dust cover. Would be pretty bad if u had to zero it everytime you cleaned it.
I've heard both - some say that it holds zero, some that it can loose it over time
Unfortunately we weren't able to properly test that
@@PolenarTactical alright, thx for reply. That might be something Brandon Herrera could test :D
It seems like you could just mount your optic on the forward section of rail and put the magnifier on the dust cover. I have both on the dust cover rail and I would like if it were a lot further forward
Russian military users dont know about that either... because motherland doesnt provide them any optics
most of the captured ones don't have optics...which says bad things about the system.
4:49 The feature that you only can fold the stock, while the weapon is on save is the result of a Russian gun-law prohibiting civilians from owning flooding stock weapons. A weapon that can not be fired if the weapon is on save is not a folding stock weapon according to this law. A Russian friend told me, I could not find a source this fast.
Similar law is now in effect in European Union
But what is the point of that law?
@@sen_ex I promised to myself not to try to understand this, before I understood the law that made the .336 AK happen.
It's even weirder. Russian law prohibits SBRs, but only specifies overall length, instead of the barrel length. So when you fold your stock, the rifle technically becomes illegal.
@@Watis1337 Нет
That's exactly what went trough my mind when inspecting a friend's TR3. I told him for the same price I can get an ak105, a Sureshot Armament Group chassis, an aimpoint and other goodies that will make a much better rifle for the same monney.
Exactly!
I bought an AK102 because 5.56 is now cheaper and easier to get...
@@PolenarTactical I still find it funny that Russian MOD put all that money into RnDing a modernized rifle, only to settle for an overpriced AK-100 variant
Yea the AEK-97x and the AN-94 is a thing but all it's doing is being part of the MVD or whatever special force Russia still has today
I really wanna see that Dragunov AM they brought back though perhaps with recent events, that might happen sooner
The truth is that the resurrected AK12 project was essentially a make work project for Kalashnikov Concern, and a propaganda tool for the Russian Army to make itself look more modern.
@@MaxwellAerialPhotography And that's stupid because a rifle is modern as long as it has 20 rds or more and an intermediate cartridge.
For the purpose of infantry the difference between a stg44 and a super modern 2022 rifle with all the bells and whistles is far less than good comms (and intel), manpads, nightvision, grenades, etc.
@@ArcturusOTE Didn't those two guns ended up being way too expensive to be widely used? Especially the AN94.
As Brandon Herrera said, 30 minutes of shopping at Zenitco would've resulted in a superior rifle.
True
personally i prefer western AK upgrades because zenitco is heavy and bulky
or Sureshot Armament Group
Surely with all the nationalization of industry going on they could have seized the means of producing a good AK.
@@Kaze919 I am afraid you are mistaken. For the past 35 years, privatization has been the trend in all sectors of Russain economy. Whole industries keep failing if they are not export-oriented and are not very good at generating income for their owners.
When they tried to modernize their AK-74 they realized that modernizing it meant cost so they went back to AK-74 and made it "better". Reminds me of people that cannot afford a new car so they put a plastic spoiler on top.
Best example! 😆
Thats the best analogy I've heard for the AK-12 so far
True as it is.
In Russia politics and economists always try think for engineers and young creative people.
Power in Russia is when local high serviceman think that world roll around him.
That "fuck" when he saw the price tag 🤣🤣🤣
Stellar video. Loved the intro as well as the production on a whole.
Thank you
Zenitco upgrade kits for AK-74M rifles would have been a more effective and economical solution for RU military and would have made it to more soldiers, maybe along with some actual optics for those rails. If the original AK-12 design had been adopted (or an AEK-971 or similar rifle had been designated AK-12), it might have been worth it.
They'd still need new production 74Ms to retire the oldest batches.
Upgrades aren't enough, many times machines reach the end of life.
Zenitco is way too expensive to be “economical” on a large scale HahaHahaHaha 🤣. It still needs fitting on Saiga’s 🤷🏻♂️. RS regulate is much higher quality. I own both.
The first version of the AK-12 failed to pass the tests. We don't know exactly what went wrong. It is also known that the AN-94 participated in the first stage of the test. He turned out to be the best among all, but did not participate in the next stages of the test.
@teebles It's very complex, but I've always heard that the AN-94 was a very accurate rifle, at least more accurate than the typical AK-74/M. Never heard anything about the burst accuracy.
The An 94 and AEK 971 both got adopted on a small scale by specialized forces
Soldier: Great, we have now capability for using optics, are we getting an optic?
Russian Brass: no, idi nahui
JUST EAT MORE CARROTS!
@@PolenarTactical LOL
Russian here, I'm still salty about the AK-12 program after all these years. The initial prototype promised so much, I was pretty excited:
Mag release and ambi controls you could actually operate with one finger, reversible bolt/ejection, proprietary adjustable (wow amazing 60's tech) stock, bolt hold open (even more amazing), and just a cool, new look.
Instead you get the same fucking 74's we'd been using for 40+ years with some tiny tweaks and cheap furniture. And it doesn't even look nearly as nice. The military absolutely could have afforded those improvements if half the budget for anything in this godforsaken country didn't get lost in some people's pockets on it's way down.
When I did my service, the AK's we had were older than all of us, and it will stay that way for another 30 years I'm afraid.
*A man in your godforsaken country, you should not be upset about the Russian AK, make your weapons, and we in Russia will figure out what we need!*
How could Putin feeds his oligarchs if you have a next generation weapon system? ? ?
Two years ago I used ak74 (with wood furniture). He was like new.
@@sigmadarkrain That's fair, actually, I shouldn't generalize. Different places have wildly different equipment. In 10-11 there was still rumors that apparently some units have unopened crates of Nagant revolvers and SKS'es laying around, though I'm pretty sure it was just a joke. But closer to big cities I hear it's much better (although apparently hazing is worse also?)
@@NohorseRU напиши на русском, я не очень понял последнее.
Hey there. The reason why you can not fold the stock if the safety is disengaged is because the TR3 is made with the canons of Russian civilian firearms.
In Russia, private ownership of handguns is banned (except for "traumatic pistols"), and all long guns must be at least 80 cm long. Any firearm that has a folding, collapsible or removable stock that makes it shorter than 80 cm must be equipped with a disconnector that prevents the gun from being fired when the stock is folded, fully collapsed, or removed.
It's essentially what the European Commission wanted to do in 2015, remember?
But I thought our manufacturing do for Europe another way, now i see thay stop trying, in Russia people proud if can find gun or car was made for export to Europe
What are “traumatic pistols”, are they akin to historical or sentimental pistols?
@@pcarrierorange nah, barrel with stiks, use only rubber bullets
@@pcarrierorange They use electric currents as primers to fire rubber pellets. They're called "traumatic" pistols because they're designed to cause physical trauma as a less-than-lethal weapon.
I don't know what the European Commision got to do with guns.. Gun laws are pure a matter of the memberstates only. If you to stupid to read what the EU is all about please shut the fuck up.
"Does it shoot straight?"
"Da."
"Then make 5 million and send in 10 million troops."
Optics? That is just a capitalistic construct made do siphon money from the army. Just give more carrots to the recruits!
@@PolenarTactical i like you but that's just a bad joke, the USSR was destroyed by traitors and nationalism and modern Russia has little in common with it, certainly not socialism.
@@untraceablefgc-9mkii251 lol, when you write this Russia is literally invading another country because it was once part of the Soviet Union 😆
@@PolenarTactical And the old Russian empire and etc etc
Bro this joke isn't funny anymore. (1) Russian isn't communist anymore and (2) the one rifle for two soldiers thing is a myth
Well.. i had the same feeling as you have thinking about the AK-12 .. Well done Ziga as usual .. Cheers Polenars
So now that Henry Chan is out Lord-Of-Waring, can you get him to get you a T-90A for review? 🤔
New production AK-12's use a different stock that is more similar to the old prototype AK-12. It needs a lengthened aluminium hand guard machined from billet. Yes the gas tube is fixed and you have to remove the plug on the front to get into it for cleaning.
That intro killed me... LOL Yall rock guys and great video as always keepem coming!!!
I like how that if you have the auto generated captions on, it interprets the rattling of the handguard during disassembly as applause.
Makes the new Finnish RK62M look good.
Would love to have one, even the non-modernized version :D
Honestly this seems like an excellent host for modification if people made parts for it the handguard could easily be fitted with a very rigid MLOK handguard that is also free floated.
Yeah...or just mod a normal AK. This thing brings nothing to a table
Thanks for the review.
Thanks for the comment.
Hahaha It sounds like "Uncle Harry" has been watching "Uncle Nigel" on the youtubes
Great video, polenar makes the best collaboration
Thanks :)
No-no-no, thank YOU!
It sounds so crisp i love it
Ziga you gotta get 1 and run it at the next Finnish Brutality event, I know myself and others would love to see how well you and the rifle performs in it🤙
Hahaha great video guys!!! Much love! Keep up the good work!
In Russia AK12 if you watch official military Channels (such as “Звезда” (The Star)) is advertised as highly modernized weapon and as one of the best rifles on Earth nowadays. But the interesting fact is that when you watch unofficial military Russian channels they also come to almost the same conclusions as you did. So thank you for your test and opinion, it helps to widen the range of thoughts on this rifle.
It's a good rifle but it could be way better. Instead of being the next generation of small arms it's just a modernized AK74
@@PolenarTactical The thing is that it’s praised as qualitatively new weapon instead of it being just modernized ancestor…
When I got my Saiga MK102 over here in South Africa, I took a Dremel and removed the magazine capacity limiting coat hanger.
I also took a plier and broke out the folding stock blocker. Now I can fold and shoot, not that I ever do.
It's something to do with certain countries having bans on features, so they make the guns compatible for all markets with the nerfs.
My gun is chambered in 5.56, but it is stamped .223 and the mags as well, for countries that don't allow military ammo.
Everyone bullying ak-12 these days
I like how the AK is slowly but surely turning into an m4.
I think everyone hates on the AK12 because we've all been spoiled by zenit, and modern AR modifications, with mlok etc.
The AK12 is basically the same level as a bone stock M4A1 with a KAC quad rail.
I don't quite hate it but it's a big disappointment :/
Would be much better if they stayed with the original prototypes
@@PolenarTactical I do agree the prototypes were cool, but from what I've seen they had many issues. High production costs, very little interchangeability with older parts, weak points etc. I think the AK12 we have now is better in the end, and when it gets renovated I'm sure there will be upgrades to the complaints.
This is the BEST introduction of all the videos on YT!!
That's pure genious!!
An AK-74m with a Zenitco handguard added can do everything this rifle does shy of burst fire for cheaper. It's sad so much hype lead up to this
cheaper? wtf have you seen their prices?
@@SirRobin048 a single part from them is cheaper than developing new rifles
@@SirRobin048 They are cheaper in Russia. The reason they cost alot here is due to bans and shit. Honestly the fixed gas tube looks like a downgrade, the pistol grip and handguard look cheap and you cant swap the muzzle break. The only improvement is the dust cover and iron sights. They could have went for an AR15 buffer tube, Zenico rails and leave everything else untouched. The improved safety is also old news like Polenar said. Brandon also showed that the new safety actually sucks and goes all the way down the receiver instead of stopping at Semi Auto. Or they could have went for the actual AK12, that didnt look like it was made with cheap garbage...
@@IlNamelessKinglI a zenitco kit by itself is more expensive than a tr3 in Russia and while it is great it’s not what an army would want
@@SirRobin048 And how exactly would you average Joe know what the top brass of the russian Military wants?
AK-74M "You Couldn't Live with Your Own Failure, Where Did that Bring You? Back to Me"
The original AK12 was the way to go. That was the most advanced AK Russia could have adopted.
Sadly it was too expensive for them
@@PolenarTactical and unreliable
I like gun-tubers collaborating & him casually mentioning his friends in his vids :)
Started following you guys after watching your Shcmeisser commercial. Haven’t been disappointed since. Great review.
Thanks, that's nice to hear :)
Harry doing the voice with that outfit reminds me of all my favorite HK movies from back in the day
While the prototype AK-12 or sometime called AK-11 is a really interesting design, it was not without it own problem
The AK-12 was a radical decision to completely replace the AK-107 in ratnik trial by Izhevsk and it was rushed which lead to it inevitable failure again the KORD A-545 but instead of fixing it, Zlobin who is the creator decide to do some really wacky stuff, like making bolt and bolt carrier cut out and adding
hell, i saw a dude made a non reciprocating ak like nothing, for sure there are cheap ways to do what the og ak 12 wanted, and still better than actual ones, its all madness
@@krosskreut3463 the problem is that the guy that made the og AK, never bother to finish it
8:49
That’s the whole shooting experience summed up pretty well.
Russians make AK-47
Too expensive, modernize it.
Russians make AKM
Cheap enough to make.
1974, 7.62x39 is outdated and heavy.
Russians make 5.45x39 and AK-74
PERFECTION.
2012, AK-74 is outdated.
AK-12 made, too expensive. Dozens of revisions later, cheaper and poorly furnished rifle made.
AK-74 was perfect. Stop perfecting the wheel
It reminds me of when the Czech army didn't yet adopt the BREN 805 (which still wasn't great, but the BREN 2 now is), the soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan would get new handguards with Picatiny, an AR buffer tube adapter and some spray paint for their Vz. 58, to make them at least close to other coalition equipment. The diference is, that the Czech army only saw this as a temporary fix before a new rifle could be put into service, while the russians just put rails, a two round burst and a new stock on an AK-74M and made it a long-term solution.
The mags are kinda cool. I know a couple people that handled the test magazines. Overall the magazine is nice
Thanks for this honest review
AKV concept looks like a step back to the original architecture of the first AK prototypes, that ware heavly influenced by Sturmgewehrs. Architecture, that from the begining, allowed solid optics mount in conjunction with the barrel...
Yes but the Russian military wont buy them... Also if you look at Russian combat footage from syria or ukraine you can see that most soldiers prefer to use a modified AK-74M.
@@glebb..3416
For me it's no wonder, soldiers are more familiarized with more battle proven AK-74M, and probably Russian Army got loads of them, compared to AK-12.
IF someday AKV will be produced, it's more likely gonna be a sporting and maybe special forces rifle. Quite like counterbalanced Saiga SR1.
@@adamcichon6957 The SR-1 might get adopted for Russian snipers, its a great rifle. The AKV sadly will not be adopted.
The problem is the Russian state that got its hand in the Kalashnikov konzern and the military. Instead of letting the profesionals do their job the Russian state takes part in the command. This applies both to Weapons and military tactics as seen in the Ukraine war, whenever the politicians take command it ends badly. Russia has many great concepts for weapons, tactics, military and so on. But the Russian state hinders everything, a good example for that would be the Russian BPLA drone (Orion drone) where the Russian state thought "we dont need them, just make a few" They only get mass produced now after the politicians finally saw how effective they are.
There are rumors that the AK-12 has reliability problems due to the state cutting the costs. So judging by the combat footages most soldiers preffer an AK-74M with zenitco attachmends, not suprising its a great and proven rifle with a company that makes quality attachments.
@@glebb..3416
Why wouldn't the Russian military buy the AKV-521?
@@thephoenix756 It costs too much.
Now that intro was FREAKING GREAT!!!!
What's sad is that there are AKs that older yet definitely better (especially when modernized) than the AK12.
Even sadder is that before the war everyone said it was good, and now everyone is dissing it. So what changed? The gun is the same as it was, so the only thing that changed was people´s minds. And if you can change your opinion on anything just because something happened in the world, then those "reviewers" weren´t reliable at all. They are meant to review a gun, not the country that made them. Time to unsubscribe, i guess...
@@Biden_is_demented because the prototype rifle that people initially saw were infinitely better designed than the rifle people are actually picking up. The actual rifle seems to have several important features cut from the initial prototype and kept several unimportant features that no one needs. The manufacturer also seems to have made several substandard choices to make the rifle more economical to produce.
@@Biden_is_demented because before the war everyone believed the Russian propaganda that the aks were the best and they were rivals to the ARs and H&Ks. But after the war people noticed that soldiers using these weapons reported they were Quote "shit" and "bad" .
Henry writing Zigas name with chalk got me so hard :D :D
This was hilarious. "Can I get one without bloodstains?"
More seriously, I am puzzled why every couple of shots, it looks like no flash from a fired round.
@Grimace427 excellent point on frame rate
@@RobinRobertsesq it's the framerate, it always happens when shooting a video in 24/30 fps. The other day I filmed a braked 7" AR with my phone at 30 fps, and while the fireball looked huge irl, it ended up looking like that AK12 footage on screen.
At 60 fps the muzzle flash looks much more consistent.
It's a Russian flash hider. Works about a third of the time.
I like how Harry speaks in tones while speaking english to make it sound more Chinese XD
I'm sure the ultimate goal of this weapon, is to make the AN 94 look good and entice its own soldiers to produce it en masse and make it the standard infantry rifle
No Unfortunately. All production equipment for the AN-94 has long been dismantled.
@@Victoratify Dang,well in a parallel universe I'm pretty sure the AN became the main battle rifle.
@@vash_the_stampede6570 nah an94 is a gimmick, kord rifles tho - they really could have.
Henry's Performance is brilliant. I spilled my Drink.
it's the new garbage rod. nice.
When Ziga said AK-V, I immediately thought he was talking about PSA’s AK-V. Lol. I was like “nooo waaay!” Lol.
Man, that is a minty looking AKSU-74!
Your taped thumb pretty much summarizes my thoughts on that folding stock release button..
If they can make that AK with the separate upper and lower catch on, that might be the answer we have all been looking for, assuming that don't build in some fatal flaw that ruins the whole thing, either by accident or by design.
there is AKV-521 which is similar in that concept
Hahaha... Uncle Harry FTW!
Good job guys!
i would love to see a review of the ACR :D
I know about one in Slovenia but it would cost me $3000 and it's a shit rifle so no video unless someone sends it from the US XD
5:24 "It works, could be improved." It has been, in fact.
That opening 😂👍🏻. Recently they upgraded the AK12 : new stock (like on akv521), new sights (diopter), pistol grip (grip and trigger guard integrated), fixed some little issues end so on...Indeed AKV521 seems to be much better then AK12 ( it made for civil market)
I’m doubtful that we will see the AKV on the civilian market outside of Russian from how things are going
Didnt Zetnico made an extra hand guard especially for the Ak-12
Rifle dynamics are expensive AKs but I highly recommend their products. I'm not someone who has the credentials to give a professional opinion but their weapon plat form is reliable and recommended by people with real world experience. Look their brand up before purchasing a new AK. They're based out of America.
At this point I am willing to believe part of the development budget turned into a yacht.
I think with that setup you could almost mount your optic on the forward section of rail and have your magnifier on the dust cover rail which means you wouldn't have to worry about zero shift
That’s the nicest indoor range I’ve ever seen. Where is that?
a new indoor range in Austria
I love the opening with "uncle" Henry Chan. He remind me so much of the Chinese guys that I used to work with. He just needs a cigarette to complete the look.
One big improvement I see is that it has a much larger sight radius which should improve accuracy when aiming with the iron sights.
My favorite AK. Rainbow 6 Siege introduced me to this rifle and I really want one. It's got everything I want. A close second was the Zastava or maybe a Vepr but this one is probably lighter
Nope, different gun. This is the AK-400 incarnation of the 'AK-12' that has nothing in common with the original design (which is what was used for R6:Siege).
@@skepticalbadger Ah I see.
This just makes me more curious of how the original prototype performed
In my opinion if they're gonna scrap the 521 they should at least
- Make the buttstock compatible to M4s
- Issue non-corrosive ammo so the permanent gas tube isn't an issue.. I don't know why they're still using corrosive ammo
- Have a decent safety catch
- Get rid of the shitty burst mode
Boom. Rifle is a hundred times better. I would say make the handguards out of aluminum but I'm not sure how much that would cost
apparently too much for the Russians :D
@@PolenarTactical The corrosive ammo always makes us laugh in the West. The Russians have a lot of issues developing modern propellants. As I recall Dynamit Noble developed non-corrosive primers in the 1930's but it took the United States until the late 1950's or 1960's to start using them in military ammunition, which I put down to the now closed government owned and run ammunition plants not wanting to change things. .
@@jager6863 maybe they wanted to test storage life before they made the decision.
Prototype AK-12 superiority
The only problem with the earlier prototype is that it's deemed "not as reliable" as previous AKs and price was significantly more expensive
"significantly more expensive" was the biggest problem for the army, they wanted it cheaper and more compatible with 74 parts... and they got what they asked for
i loved the ak-12 prototype but this one is just the normal ak
This pin on fron of gas block is not gas regulator.
It is plug to clean gas pipe. :)
Yes, but it could easily be made into an adjustable gas block as it was in some early prototypes
Loved the creativity and references, Nice análises too
Slap a bunch of cheap plastic onto a classic AK-74-Boom! AK-12.
Let's get some more uploads! Love your videos man 👍
We're trying to upload 2 videos per week consistently now
@@PolenarTactical Hell yeah 👍
It was AK400 prototype and when they stop testing real AK-12 prototype because it has so many problems, they just use AK400 model and name it AK-12 for some reason...also this is first verson of AK-12, they made new one with lots of improvements...adn yes AKV-521 is much batter modernization of AK version..its to bad it was to late developed...
Glad to see cousin Harry branching out from the mountains of Pak-I mean in the mountains.
It would be like if the government decided to upgrade the old M4 and just melted on a few pieces of pic rail to add a grip and light and then broke the safety and called it a day lol.
No wonder the tractors are extra hardworking as of late... It's Harry Chang's!!!
And is Harry just ran over the orc?
These guys deserve 2 million subs. Awesome content as always.
Henry hit all 8 Cantonese tones while speaking English.
Mom must have been Gwandonwa!
Buy the SR1 instead.
That one actually has the counteracting recoil mechanism that makes .223 feel like .22lr and also superior AR ergonomics.
We have tested it and it's interesting system but not worth the money in my opinion
They put in on market like raw prototype, not worth it , only for collectors))
@@PolenarTactical 4000-5000 EUR is an absurd price. Something reserved only for high-quality precision rifles, not AKs of any kind.
theres a german youtuber who reviews lego sets and one of his signature quotes is "almost good, but primarily really bad" fits the ak12 quite well
The no folding when on fire is actually a Russian legal requirement. It makes no sense but that's what happens when pistols are illegal in your country.
They’re legal, just heavily regulated. You need to be an IPSC shooter (or want to become one) to buy a pistol.
@@commander31able60 yeah in my book thats illegal. You can own an artillery piece in America but for the general public it's not possible.
Thanks